Paul Larsen Paul Larsen (ex Team Philips) will pilot SAILROCKET and brings his extensive experience of high performance  sailing to many other areas of  the project.

For me it defines everything that is at the core of my passion for sailing. I love fast boats when they hit their limits. It gives the most amazing sense of power, speed, balance and harmony. Drive equals drag right on the brink of total chaos. Those moments and that feeling is what motivates me through the 'not so wild' aspects of the sport. The quest for the perfect reach, the ultimate blast.... This quest for the fastest outright yacht on the face of the earth has lead me to Malcolm Barnsley and the SAILROCKET project.

Since the day that I began experimenting with model yachts on muddy dams in rural Australia I knew what the fastest sailing craft in the world was. Before I bought a magazine I checked out the Guinness book of records in the school library....'Let's see', Yachting....Fastest.....and there it was, Crossbow II at 36+ knots. The models began to hit the far bank a little harder. I followed the sailboards as they raised the stakes through 40 knots and up to a 'glass ceiling' around 44 knots. At this stage Hobie 16's had my full attention. We raced against a fellow by the name of Simon Mckeon who's progress I followed from Nacra 5.2 beach cats through wild, wingsailed Little America's Cup catamarans and eventually on to Yellow Pages Endeavour where along with Tim Daddo he set the existing record at 46.5 knots at sandy point in Victoria. Naturally we took the Hobie down there and fired it down the course in forty knots of wind learning something very important on the subject of control along the way.

It has been in the back of my mind ever since. The boat looks right and the concept is sound. I've looked at others, giving many concepts a lot of thought but I keep coming back to the SAILROCKET.

Finally with some spare time I had the opportunity to meet up with Malcolm for a more in  depth look. There are many issues that could and have lead to unsuccessful attempts. I had a lot of questions. Malcolm has been involved with this type of experimental sailing since 1975 and has a good grasp of the pitfalls. We know we will run into all sorts of difficulties but feel that we have a design and a program which is variable enough to overcome them. You could consider the SAILROCKET program, at its core, to be a scientific experiment to sail an aerofoil purely against a hydrofoil whilst eliminating the age old problem of righting moment. The boat you choose has to be a platform that can allow this interaction to take place in an efficient and controllable form. With the 1:5 scale model testing showing favourable results on both these counts we feel that the time is right to go to full size and raise 'the hurdle'.

 The record is ripe to fall. Many have tried but have failed for various reasons. The 50 knot barrier is so tantalizingly close. It will only take around 16.7 seconds to cover the 500 meter course at this speed. We will need dead flat water and therefore will only be meters off the beach. Quite a spectacle for any sport let alone the popular perception of yachting. Imagine standing on the waters edge watching a sail off in the distance coming at you with what appears to be steam pouring off it's hull. Oddly the leeward side seems to be flying totally clear of the water. You barely have time to comprehend this and the speed at which it is approaching  when in an instant it is past and gone. That image would stick with you for quite some time. The time is right to make it happen.

Paul Larsen